Multilayer electronic component and method for manufacturing the same

ABSTRACT

A method for manufacturing a multilayer electronic component, includes the steps of preparing a laminate including a plurality of insulating layers laminated to each other and a plurality of internal electrodes formed along interfaces between the insulating layers, edges of the internal electrodes being exposed at a predetermined surface of the laminate, and forming an external electrode on the predetermined surface so as to electrically connect the edges of the internal electrodes, which are exposed at the predetermined surface of the laminate. The step of forming an external electrode includes a plating step of forming a continuous plating film by depositing plating deposits on the edges of the internal electrodes exposed at the predetermined surface of the laminate which is prepared in the step of preparing a laminate and by performing plating growth of the plating deposits so as to be connected to each other, and a heat treatment step of performing a heat treatment on the laminate provided with the plating film formed thereon at an oxygen partial pressure of about 5 ppm or less and at a temperature of about 600° C. or more.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a multilayer electronic component and amethod for manufacturing the same, and more particularly to a multilayerelectronic component formed by plating external electrodes directly onexternal surfaces of a laminate and to a method for manufacturing themultilayer electronic component.

2. Description of the Related Art

As shown in FIG. 4, a multilayer electronic component 101, which isrepresented by a multilayer ceramic capacitor, generally includes alaminate 105 including a plurality of insulating layers 102 laminated toeach other and a plurality of layer-shaped internal electrodes 103 and104 provided along interfaces between the insulating layers 102. At endsurfaces 106 and 107 of the laminate 105, edges of the internalelectrodes 103 and 104 are exposed, respectively, and externalelectrodes 108 and 109 are provided to electrically connect the edges ofthe internal electrodes 103 and 104, respectively.

When the external electrodes 108 and 109 are formed, in general, pasteelectrode films 110 are first formed by applying a metal pastecontaining a metal component and a glass component on the end surfaces106 and 107 of the laminate 105, followed by firing. Next, on the pasteelectrode films 110, first plating layers 111 containing Ni or othersuitable material as a primary component are formed, and furthermore, onthe first plating films, second plating films 112 containing Sn or othersuitable material as a primary component are formed. That is, each ofthe external electrodes 108 and 109 have a three-layer structureincluding the paste electrode film 110, the first plating film 111, andthe second plating film 112.

The external electrodes 108 and 109 must have superior wettability tosolder when the multilayer electronic component 101 is mounted on asubstrate using solder. At the same time, the external electrode 108must electrically connect the internal electrodes 103 which are in anelectrically insulated state, and the external electrode 109 mustelectrically connect the internal electrodes 104 which are in anelectrically insulated state. The second plating film 112 ensures thesolder wettability, and the paste electrode films 110 electricallyconnect the respective internal electrodes 103 and 104. The firstplating film 111 prevents solder leaching during solder bonding.

However, the paste electrode film 110 has a relatively large thickness,such as several tens to several hundreds micrometers. Thus, when thedimensions of this multilayer electronic component 101 are set within apredetermined standard value, an effective volume to ensure anelectrostatic capacity must be decreased by an amount corresponding tothat required to ensure the volume of the paste electrodes 110. On theother hand, since the thickness of each of the plating films 111 and 112is approximately several micrometers, if each of the external electrodes108 and 109 can be only with the first plating film 111 and the secondplating film 112, a larger effective volume for the electrostaticcapacity can be provided.

For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No.63-169014 disclose a method for depositing a conductive metal layer byelectroless plating so that internal electrodes exposed at one side wallsurface of a laminate are short-circuited to the entire side wallsurface at which the internal electrodes are exposed.

However, in the method disclosed in Japanese Unexamined PatentApplication Publication No. 63-169014, since the bonding between theinternal electrodes and the plating film is insufficient, moisture andother contaminants are disadvantageously likely to enter the laminate.Thus, when a loading test is performed under high-temperature andhigh-humidity conditions, the life of a multilayer electronic componentis likely to be reduced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To overcome the problems described above, preferred embodiments of thepresent invention provide a method for manufacturing a multilayerelectronic component, and a multilayer electronic component manufacturedthereby.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention is directed to a methodfor manufacturing a multilayer electronic component, including the stepsof preparing a laminate which includes a plurality of insulating layerslaminated to each other and a plurality of internal electrodes formedalong interfaces between the insulating layers, edges of the internalelectrodes being exposed at a predetermined surface of the laminate, andforming an external electrode on the predetermined surface so as toelectrically connect the edges of the internal electrodes, which areexposed at the predetermined surface of the laminate.

Preferably, the step of forming an external electrode includes the stepsof a plating step of forming a continuous plating film by depositingplating deposits on the edges of the internal electrodes exposed at thepredetermined surface of the laminate which is prepared in the step ofpreparing a laminate and by performing plating growth of the platingdeposits so as to be connected to each other, and a heat treatment stepof performing a heat treatment on the laminate provided with the platingfilm at an oxygen partial pressure of about 5 ppm or less and at atemperature of about 600° C. or more.

In the above-described heat treatment step, the temperature to beapplied is preferably about 800° C. or more.

A metal defining a primary component of the internal electrodes and ametal defining a primary component of the plating film are preferablydifferent from each other.

The metal which is a primary component of the internal electrodes maybe, for example, Ni, Cu, Pd, or Ag. In the preferred embodimentdescribed above, for the metal which is a primary component of theinternal electrodes and the metal which is a primary component of theplating film, when the former is Ni, the latter is preferably at leastone of Ag, Au, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Sn, Pt, and Pd; when the former is Cu,the latter is preferably at least one of Ag, Au, Co, Cr, Fe, In, Ir, Ni,Pd, Pt, Rh, Sn, and Zn; when the former is Pd, the latter is preferablyat least one of Cu, Fe, Ni, Rh, and Sn; and when the former is Ag, thelatter is preferably at least one of Au, Co, Cu, Fe, In, Ni, Pd, Sn, andZn.

More preferably, the metal which is a primary component of the internalelectrodes is Ni, Cu, Pd, or Ag. In the preferred embodiment describedabove, for the metal which is a primary component of the internalelectrodes and the metal which is a primary component of the platingfilm, when the former is Ni, the latter is Cu; when the former is Cu,the latter is Ni; and when the former is Pd or Ag, the latter is Cu orNi.

The step of forming an external electrode may further include a step offorming a second plating film on the plating film. The heating treatmentstep is preferably performed before the step of forming a second platingfilm.

A multilayer electronic component obtained by the manufacturing methodaccording to preferred embodiments of the present invention has thefollowing structural features.

A multilayer electronic component according to a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention includes a laminate which includes a plurality ofinsulating layers laminated to each other and a plurality of internalelectrodes provided along interfaces between the insulating layers,edges of the internal electrodes being exposed at a predeterminedsurface of the laminate, and an external electrode provided on thepredetermined surface. The external electrode includes a plating filmwhich is directly provided on the predetermined surface of the laminateso as to electrically connect the edges of the internal electrodesexposed at the predetermined surface of the laminate. In addition, atboundary portions between each of the internal electrodes and theplating film, a counter diffusion layer is provided, in which a metalcomponent in the plating film and a metal component in the internalelectrodes are both detectable, so as to extend to both sides of theinternal electrodes and the plating film, and at the side of theinternal electrodes, the counter diffusion layer extends to a locationspaced from the predetermined surface of the laminate by about 2 μm ormore.

According to preferred embodiments of the present invention, after theplating film is formed which defines the external electrode, a heattreatment under specific conditions is performed, and counter diffusionoccurs at the boundary portions between the internal electrodes and theplating film. This counter diffusion causes volume expansion atlocations at which it occurs. That is, at the boundary portions betweenthe internal electrodes and the plating film, volume expansion occurs.As a result, voids which may be generated at individual interfaces ofthe insulating layers with the internal electrodes and the externalelectrode are filled, and as a result, sealing properties are providedto the laminate. Thus, moisture, a plating solution, and othercontaminants are prevented from entering the laminate, and as a result,a reduction in life, which is caused when a loading test is performedunder high-temperature and high-humidity conditions, is prevented.

When the temperature to be applied in the heat treatment step isincreased to about 800° C. or more, at the location at which the counterdiffusion occurs, uniform dispersion between a plating film componentand an internal electrode component is provided. This phenomenon rapidlyoccurs when the heat treatment temperature reaches about 800° C. ormore, and as a result, the above sealing properties are significantlyimproved.

In addition, when the metal which is a primary component of the internalelectrode and the metal which is a primary component of the plating filmare different from each other, the counter diffusion is improved ascompared to that obtained when the metals are the same.

In a preferred embodiment in which the second plating film is formed onthe plating film, which is to be processed by the heat treatment asdescribed above to form the external electrode, when the heat treatmentstep is performed before the step of forming a second plating film, aplating solution used for forming the second plating film is preventedfrom entering the laminate.

Other features, elements, processes, steps, characteristics andadvantages of the present invention will become more apparent from thefollowing detailed description of preferred embodiments of the presentinvention with reference to the attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a multilayer electroniccomponent 1 according to a first preferred embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a partly enlarged cross-sectional view of a laminate 5 shownin FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a multilayer electronic component 1a according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional multilayer electroniccomponent 101.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a multilayer electronic component 1according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention and amethod for manufacturing the same will be described.

First, as shown in FIG. 1, the multilayer electronic component 1includes a laminate 5 which includes a plurality of insulating layers 2laminated to each other and layer-shaped internal electrodes 3 and 4provided along interfaces between the insulating layers 2. When themultilayer electronic component 1 is a multilayer ceramic capacitor, theinsulating layers 2 are made of a dielectric ceramic. At end surfaces 6and 7 of the laminate 5, edges of a plurality of internal electrodes 3and 4 are exposed, respectively, and external electrodes 8 and 9 areprovided so as to electrically connect the edges of the internalelectrodes 3 and the edges of the internal electrodes 4, respectively.

Each of the external electrodes 8 and 9 are defined by a plating film 10of plating deposits formed by wet plating, such as electroplating orelectroless plating. That is, the external electrodes 8 and 9 do notinclude a conductive paste film, a vacuum deposition film, a sputteringfilm, or other films.

Next, the method for manufacturing the multilayer electronic component 1will be described with reference to FIG. 2. A method for forming theexternal electrodes 8 and 9 will primarily be described. FIG. 2 shows aportion of the laminate 5 shown in FIG. 1 and is an enlarged view in thevicinity of the one end surface 6 at which the internal electrodes 3 areexposed. In addition, the other end surface 7 and the internalelectrodes 4 exposed at the other end surface 7 are substantially thesame as the end surface 6 and internal electrodes 3.

First, the laminate 5 is prepared which includes the insulating layers 2laminated to each other and the internal electrodes 3 and 4 formed alongthe interfaces between the insulating layers 2, and the edges of theinternal electrodes 3 and 4 are exposed at the end surfaces 6 and 7,respectively. In this laminate 5, when the internal electrodes 3 and 4are recessed from the end surfaces 6 and 7 and are not sufficientlyexposed, the insulating layers 2 are preferably ground by a method, suchas sandblasting or barrel polishing, so as to sufficiently expose theinternal electrodes 3 and 4 at the end surfaces 6 and 7, respectively.

Next, a step of forming the external electrodes 8 and 9 is performed onthe end surfaces 6 and 7 of the laminate 5 so as to electrically connectthe edges of the internal electrodes 3 and 4 exposed at the end surfaces6 and 7 of the laminate 5, respectively.

In the step of forming the external electrodes 8 and 9, a plating stepis performed in which plating deposits are first deposited on the edgesof the internal electrodes 3 and 4, which are exposed at the endsurfaces 6 and 7 of the laminate 5, and are then processed by platinggrowth to be connected to each other so that continuous plating films 10are directly formed on the end surfaces 6 and 7.

Next, the laminate 5 provided with the plating films 10 is heat-treatedat an oxygen partial pressure of about 5 ppm or less and at atemperature of about 600° C. or more. This heat treatment causes counterdiffusion between a metal component in the internal electrodes 3 and 4and a metal component in the plating films 10 forming the externalelectrodes 8 and 9. As a result, as shown in FIG. 2, at each of boundaryportions between the internal electrodes 3 and 4 and the plating films10, a counter diffusion layer 11 is formed. Due to the counterdiffusion, volume expansion occurs at the boundary portions between theinternal electrodes 3 and 4 and the plating films 10, and voids atinterfaces between the insulating layers 2 and the internal electrodes 3and 4 and voids at interfaces between the insulating layers 2 and theplating films 10 are filled. Thus, moisture, a plating solution, andother contaminants are prevented from entering the laminate 5, and as aresult, the life properties obtained when a loading test is performedunder high-temperature and high-humidity conditions are prevented fromdeteriorating.

As the counter diffusion layer 11, the condition in which the metalcomponent in the plating films 10 and the metal component in theinternal electrodes 3 and 4 are both detectable must be satisfied. Inother words, the region in which the above-described condition issatisfied is defined as the counter diffusion layer 11.

The counter diffusion layers 11 are formed, as shown in FIG. 2, so as toextend to both sides of the internal electrodes 3 and 4 and the platingfilms 10. In order to obtain sufficient sealing properties, the counterdiffusion layer 11 must be formed in a region having at leastpredetermined dimensions. As a rough indication, when the areas of thecounter diffusion layers 11 formed at the internal electrodes 3 and 4sides extends to locations spaced from the respective end surfaces 6 and7 by a distance A as shown in FIG. 2, and when the distance A is about 2μm or more, it has been found from the below-described experimentalexample that a sufficient sealing effect is obtained.

The temperature to be applied in the above-described heat treatment stepis preferably increased to about 800° C. or more. By this temperature,at the location at which the counter diffusion occurs, the uniformdispersion between the plating film component and the internal electrodecomponent is significantly improved. This phenomenon is rapidly achievedwhen the heat treatment temperature is about 800° C. or more, and theabove sealing properties are significantly improved.

In addition, the upper limit of the temperature to be applied in theheat treatment step is not particularly limited. However, a temperatureat which the insulating layers 2 are not deteriorated and at which themetals in the internal electrodes 3 and 4 and the plating films 10 arenot melted may be regarded as the upper limit.

In order to enable the counter diffusion to easily occur by the heattreatment, the metal which is a primary component of the internalelectrodes 3 and 4 and the metal which is a primary component of theplating film 10 are preferably different from each other.

As the metal which is a primary component of the internal electrodes 3and 4, for example, Ni, Cu, Pd, or Ag is used. In the case describedabove, for the metal which is a primary component of the internalelectrodes 3 and 4 and the metal which is a primary component of theplating film 10, when the former is Ni, the latter is preferably atleast one of Ag, Au, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Sn, Pt, and Pd; when the former isCu, the latter is preferably at least one of Ag, Au, Co, Cr, Fe, In, Ir,Ni, Pd, Pt, Rh, Sn, and Zn; when the former is Pd, the latter ispreferably at least one of Cu, Fe, Ni, Rh, and Sn; and when the formeris Ag, the latter is preferably at least one of Au, Co, Cu, Fe, In, Ni,Pd, Sn, and Zn.

More preferably, as the metal which is a primary component of theinternal electrodes 3 and 4, Ni, Cu, Pd, or Ag is used. In the casedescribed above, for the metal which is a primary component of theinternal electrodes 3 and 4 and the metal which is a primary componentof the plating film 10, when the former is Ni, the latter is Cu; whenthe former is Cu, the latter is Ni; and when the former is Pd or Ag, thelatter is Cu or Ni.

The presence of the counter diffusion layer 11 as shown in FIG. 2 can beconfirmed, for example, by performing a mapping analysis using awavelength dispersive x-ray microanalyzer (WDX). That is, with a mappinganalysis using WDX, a two-dimensional diffusion state of metal elementscan be determined.

In the multilayer electronic component 1 as described above, each of theexternal electrodes 8 and 9 is formed of a single-layer plating film 10.However, at least one layer may be further formed as a plating film. Oneexample of a multilayer electronic component in which each of theexternal electrodes is formed of a plurality of plating films will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 shows a multilayer electronic component 1 a according to a secondpreferred embodiment of the present invention and corresponds to FIG. 1.In FIG. 3, elements corresponding to the elements shown in FIG. 1 aredesignated by the same reference numerals, and descriptions thereof areomitted.

In the external electrodes 8 a and 9 a of the multilayer electroniccomponent 1 a, each the plating films 10 formed on the end surfaces 6and 7 of the laminate 5 define an underlying layer, and an intermediateplating film 12 as a second plating film, and an exterior plating film13 are formed by electroplating or electroless plating in a similarmanner to the plating film 10.

Since the exterior plating film 13 must have superior wettability tosolder, for example, Sn or Au is preferably used as a primary component.In this preferred embodiment, the plating film 10 defining an underlyinglayer includes, for example, Cu as a primary component. Since theintermediate plating film 12 must prevent solder leaching during solderbonding, for example, Ni is preferably used as a primary component. Inaddition, when the plating film 10 defining an underlying layer includesNi as a primary component, the intermediate plating film 12 may beomitted.

As shown in FIG. 3, even when each of the external electrodes 8 a and 9a are formed of a plurality of layers, that is, the plating films 10,12, and 13, the film in which the counter diffusion occurs is primarilythe plating film 10 defining an underlying layer. The heat treatmentcausing the counter diffusion as described above may be performed at anytime after the plating film 10 is formed. However, it is preferablyperformed before the steps of forming the intermediate plating film 12and the exterior plating film 13 are performed. The reason for this isthat due to the heat treatment, intrusion of plating solutions used forforming the intermediate plating film 12 and the exterior plating film13 is advantageously prevented.

Heretofore, the present invention has been described with reference tothe preferred embodiments shown in the figures. However, withoutdeparting from the spirit and the scope of the present invention,various changes and modifications may be made.

For example, as the multilayer electronic component to which the presentinvention may be applied, for example, a multilayer ceramic capacitorhas been described. However, in addition to a multilayer ceramiccapacitor, the present invention may also be applied to a multilayerchip inductor, a multilayer chip thermistor, and other suitablemultilayer component.

Accordingly, since the insulating layer provided in the multilayerelectronic component is only required to have an electrical insulatingfunction, a material used for the insulating layer is not particularlylimited. That is, instead of a dielectric ceramic insulating layer, aninsulating layer made of a piezoelectric ceramic, a semiconductorceramic, a magnetic ceramic, or other suitable insulating material mayalso be used.

Hereinafter, the following experimental examples performed to determinethe range of the present invention and to confirm the effects of thepresent invention will be described.

A laminate for a multilayer ceramic capacitor was prepared having alength of about 1.9 mm, a width of about 1.05 mm, and a height of about1.05 mm, in which insulating layers were made of a barium titanatedielectric ceramic, and internal electrodes were primarily made of Ni.In this laminate, the number of insulating layers thus laminated was416, and the thickness of each insulating layer was about 1.9 μm.

Next, the above-described laminate was charged in a horizontal rotatingbarrel, and conductive media having a diameter of about 1.8 mm were alsocharged therein. Subsequently, the rotating barrel was immersed in a Cuplating strike bath having a controlled pH of about 8.5 and a bathtemperature of about 25 C, and while the barrel was being rotated at arotation rate of about 10 rpm, Cu plating films were directly formed onthe end surfaces of the laminate at which the internal electrodes wereexposed at a current density of about 0.11 A/dm² for about 60 minutes.In addition, the Cu plating strike bath contained about 14 g/L of copperpyrophosphate, about 120 g/L of pyrophosphoric acid, and about 10 g/L ofpotassium oxalate.

Next, a rotating barrel containing the laminate provided with the Cuplating films thereon was immersed in a pyrophosphoric acid bath for Cuplating (Pyrobright process manufactured by C Uyemura & Co., Ltd.),having a controlled pH of about 8.8 and a bath temperature of about 55°C., and while the barrel was being rotated at a rotation rate of about10 rpm, electroplating was performed at a current density of about 0.30A/dm² for about 60 minutes. As described above, on the Cu plating film,a Cu plating film was formed, so that the total thickness of the Cuplating film was approximately about 10 μm.

Next, the laminate provided with the Cu plating films formed thereon washeat-treated for about 2 hours in a nitrogen atmosphere having an oxygenpartial pressure of about 5 ppm or less and at a temperature shown inthe column “Heat Treatment Temperature” in Table 1. In addition, sample4 was not heat-treated.

Subsequently, in order to confirm the conditions of the counterdiffusion, which was generated by the heat treatment, at the boundaryportions between the internal electrodes and the Cu plating film, amapping analysis using WDX was performed for each sample, and atwo-dimensional diffusion state of metal elements was analyzed. In thisanalysis, as an apparatus, JXA8500F manufactured by JEOL Ltd. was used,the accelerating voltage was set to about 15 kV, the irradiation currentwas set to about 50 nA, the magnification of a scanning electronmicroscope (SEM) was set to about 5,000 times, the cumulative time wasset to about 40 ms, and as the detection characteristic x-ray of Ni andCu, a primary ray of Ka characteristic x-ray was used. The conditions ofthe counter diffusion obtained as described above are shown in “CounterDiffusion Layer Formation Distance” in Table 1. This “Counter DiffusionLayer Formation Distance” corresponds to “A” shown in FIG. 2.

Next, the laminate was charged in a horizontal rotating barrel, andconductive media having a diameter of about 1.8 mm were also chargedtherein. Subsequently, the rotating barrel was immersed in a Ni platingWatt bath having a controlled pH of about 4.2 and a bath temperature ofabout 60° C., and while the barrel was being rotated at a rotation rateof about 10 rpm, electroplating was performed at a current density ofabout 0.20 A/dm² for about 60 minutes. As described above, on the aboveCu plating film, a Ni plating film having a thickness of approximately 4μm was formed.

Subsequently, a rotating barrel in which the laminate provided with theNi plating films formed thereon was received was immersed in a Snplating bath (Sn-235 manufactured by Dipsol Chemicals Co., Ltd.) havinga controlled pH of about 5.0 and a bath temperature of about 33° C., andwhile the barrel was being rotated at a rotation rate of about 10 rpm,electroplating was performed at a current density of about 0.10 A/dm²for about 60 minutes. As described above, on the above Ni plating film,a Sn plating film having a thickness of approximately 4 μm was formed.

Accordingly, a multilayer electronic component of each sample wasobtained in which the electroplating films were formed directly on thelaminate as the external electrodes.

As a high-temperature and high-humidity loading test, a PCBT (PressureCooker Bias Test) was performed on the multilayer electronic componentof each sample. As the test conditions, the temperature was set to about125° C., the humidity was set to about 95%, the voltage was set to about6.3 V, the time was set to about 72 hours, and a multilayer electroniccomponent having a resistance of about 1 MΩ or less was determined to bea defect, so that the defective fraction was calculated. The results areshown in the column “PCBT Defective Fraction (1)” in Table 1.

In addition, a PCBT test under severer test conditions was furtherperformed on the multilayer electronic component of each sample. As thetest conditions, the temperature was set to about 150° C., the humiditywas set to about 95%, the voltage was set to about 6.3 V, and the timewas set to about 144 hours. Also in this PCBT test, a multilayerelectronic component having a resistance of about 1 MΩ or less wasdetermined to be a defect, and the defective fraction was calculated.The results are shown in the column “PCBT Defective Fraction (2)” inTable 1.

TABLE 1 Heat Counter Diffusion PCBT PCBT Sample Treatment LayerFormation Defective Defective No. Temperature Distance Fraction (1)Fraction (2) 1 900° C. 50 μm 0% 0% 2 800° C. 30 μm 0% 0% 3 600° C. 2 μm0% 30% 4 — 0 100% 100% 5 400° C. 0.4 μm 80% 100%

From Table 1, it was discovered that by performing the heat treatment,the counter diffusion layer is formed. In addition, it was alsodiscovered that the formation of the counter diffusion layer has aninfluence on the PCBT defective fraction.

Particularly, when the heat treatment temperature is set to about 600°C. or more as the cases of samples 1 to 3, the “PCBT Defective Fraction(1)” can be decreased to 0%. In addition, as in samples 1 and 2, whenthe heat treatment temperature is set to about 800° C. or more, thesealing properties are further improved as described above, and as aresult, the defective fraction under the severer test conditions, thatis, the “PCBT Defective Fraction (2)”, are also decreased to 0%.

While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been describedabove, it is to be understood that variations and modifications will beapparent to those skilled in the art without departing the scope andspirit of the present invention. The scope of the present invention,therefore, is to be determined solely by the following claims.

1. A method for manufacturing a multilayer electronic component,comprising the steps of: preparing a laminate including a plurality ofinsulating layers laminated to each other and a plurality of internalelectrodes formed along interfaces between the insulating layers, edgesof the internal electrodes being exposed at a predetermined surface ofthe laminate; and forming an external electrode on the predeterminedsurface so as to electrically connect the edges of the internalelectrodes, which are exposed at the predetermined surface of thelaminate; wherein the step of forming an external electrode includes: aplating step of forming a continuous plating film by depositing platingdeposits on the edges of the internal electrodes exposed at thepredetermined surface of the laminate which is prepared in the step ofpreparing a laminate and by performing plating growth of the platingdeposits so as to be connected to each other; and a heat treatment stepof performing a heat treatment on the laminate provided with the platingfilm formed thereon at an oxygen partial pressure of about 5 ppm or lessand at a temperature of about 600° C. or more.
 2. The method formanufacturing a multilayer electronic component, according to claim 1,wherein the temperature to be applied in the heat treatment step isabout 800° C. or more.
 3. The method for manufacturing a multilayerelectronic component, according to claim 1, wherein a metal which is aprimary component of the internal electrodes and a metal which is aprimary component of the plating film are different from each other. 4.The method for manufacturing a multilayer electronic component,according to claim 3, wherein the metal which is a primary component ofthe internal electrodes is one of Ni, Cu, Pd, and Ag, and when the metalwhich is a primary component of the internal electrodes is Ni, the metalwhich is a primary component of the plating film is at least one of Ag,Au, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Sn, Pt, and Pd; when the metal which is a primarycomponent of the internal electrodes is Cu, the metal which is a primarycomponent of the plating film is at least one of Ag, Au, Co, Cr, Fe, In,Ir, Ni, Pd, Pt, Rh, Sn, and Zn; when the metal which is a primarycomponent of the internal electrodes is Pd, the metal which is a primarycomponent of the plating film is at least one of Cu, Fe, Ni, Rh, and Sn;and when the metal which is a primary component of the internalelectrodes is Ag, the metal which is a primary component of the platingfilm is at least one of Au, Co, Cu, Fe, In, Ni, Pd, Sn, and Zn.
 5. Themethod for manufacturing a multilayer electronic component, according toclaim 4, wherein when the metal which is a primary component of theinternal electrodes is Ni, the metal which is a primary component of theplating film is Cu; when the metal which is a primary component of theinternal electrodes is Cu, the metal which is a primary component of theplating film is Ni; and when the metal which is a primary component ofthe internal electrodes is Pd or Ag, the metal which is a primarycomponent of the plating film is Cu or Ni.
 6. The method formanufacturing a multilayer electronic component, according to claim 1,wherein the step of forming an external electrode further includes astep of forming a second plating film on the plating film, and theheating treatment step is performed before the step of forming a secondplating film.
 7. A multilayer electronic component comprising: alaminate including a plurality of insulating layers laminated to eachother and a plurality of internal electrodes provided along interfacesbetween the insulating layers, edges of the internal electrodes beingexposed at a predetermined surface of the laminate; and an externalelectrode provided on the predetermined surface; wherein the externalelectrode includes a plating film which is directly provided on thepredetermined surface of the laminate so as to electrically connect theedges of the internal electrodes exposed at the predetermined surface ofthe laminate; and at a boundary portion between each of the internalelectrodes and the plating film, a counter diffusion layer is provided,in which a metal component in the plating film and a metal component inthe internal electrodes are both detectable, and extend to both sides ofthe internal electrodes and the plating film, and, at a side of theinternal electrodes, the counter diffusion layer extends to a locationspaced from the predetermined surface of the laminate by about 2 μm ormore.